“Misogynist?! Where the fuck did you get that? You don’t even know me!”
Oh.Interesting.That hit a nerve. He didn't care about any of the other names, which meant that he was, in fact, a kidnapper, acriminal, and a dickhead. But the misogynist part pissed him off. He probably thought he was a good person.
I opened my mouth to launch into him, but a loud phone call interrupted me.Giannashowed up on the screen, but the kidnapper-criminal-dickhead pressed the red button almost instantly, dropping the call.
He sped up instead, the unknown landscape whooshing past us in a blur, but not even a minute later, the ringing started once more.Gianna.
"Pissed off girlfriend?" I turned to him, eager to poke the bear again.
"None of your fucking business."
The irritability in his voice was too perfect to ignore—I’d hit the nail on the head. "Oh, come on. You know about Xavier; it’s only fair you tell me about Gianna. Did you kidnap her too at some point? Were you a dickhead to her?” I tried to hold back my smile, predicting his reaction to my next words. “Amisogyni—”
"You really need to learn how to keep your mouth shut. Jesus. You talk so much, I’m surprised you haven’t swallowed your own venomous tongue yet." Exasperated, he threw me a look of pure poison, but it had the opposite effect of what he wanted—it gave me a jolt of excitement. Riling him up was child’s play.
The Aston Martin pulled into a small parking lot attached to a dingy drug store in the middle of nowhere, and the dark-haired kidnapper jumped out of the car almost instantly. I still sat there, assessing my surroundings. What a shithole place. But before that thought could linger, he approached my car door and opened it. Like agentleman.
“Please, princess, by all means, take your fucking time.” He stood in front of the car door, blocking all sunlight.
Oh, Iwouldtake my time. Slowly, I swung my legs out, my heels almost reaching the pavement. Damn, I’d miscalculated—this car was too low to exit gracefully. But I was too far into whatever the fuck was happening between us to give up now. The whole charade wouldn’t work if I climbed out like a gremlin and my body worked before my mind could catch up—I stuck my hand out.
The birds chirped somewhere close by, and warm wind rustled my hair while I waited. I’d never done that before—neverdemandedanything. Never put my foot down, rarely asked, barely took control, butnow,with him, there was no other choice. And I kind of liked it.
The Sasquatch stared at my hand for too long, waiting it out, but so did I. Just as I thought he’d leave me hanging for good, his tattooed fingers closed around mine.
The contrast was eye-opening. My hand was small and cold, and his hand was massive, rough, and hot, and it swallowed mine in an unforgiving grip. He hauled me up in one sudden pull, bringing my nose an inch away from the solid wall that was his chest.
I stumbled on the uneven pavement in my four-inch heels, steadying myself on the first thing I could reach. His bicep. Like all of him, it was sizable.
He didn’t move. He didn’t even flinch. He looked down his long and straight nose, right into my eyes, that repulsive smirk from last night on his face once more.
“Careful, Jade,” he murmured, his deep voice getting under my skin. “Wouldn’t want you to trip. You might actually have to rely on amisogynistto catch you.” We were so close that I could see the way his pupils dilated, his eyes filled with amusement.
And he still held my hand in his clutches, his grip only tightening, the same way my chest squeezed at this unexpected and unwanted encounter.
“So we’re going with that nickname then?” I gulped, tugging my fingers out of his grasp, but instead, he pulled me in closer.
“Will it make you shut the fuck up?” he asked, his tone fake and over the top, but the truth was that nothing would make me shut my mouth now. He hadnothingon me.
“You’ve asked so many times.” I finally pulled free, shutting down whatever heat was accosting my neck and back. “You’re practically begging. Why don’t you get down on your knees while you’re at it?”
He melted into a full-toothed grin before I even finished my sentence. “Never. In my life. Have I gotten down on my knees foranyone,” he declared, so proud, as if it was a life achievement.
“Well, there’s a first time for ever—”
“Walk.” His bright smile was long gone and he spoke louder, stepping so close that I had to stumble back.
Fucking psycho.
I wandered through the store, picking up some shampoo and half-decent face cream, slowly making my way to the aisle I desperately needed, hoping that he would stop following me.
But no, he was right on my ass, unnecessarily close.
"How long will this getaway last for me, do you think? When can I go to a drug store again?" I turned to him while he looked around, monitoring our surroundings like he was my bodyguard.
"Why does it matter? Just get your shit and hurry up."
"Okay. So next time I'm on my period, you'll go and get me some tampons yourself then?" As expected, he rolled his eyes and leaned in, giving me another one of his death stares. It was getting old.
